Oracle delivers patches for WebLogic every 3 months. These Critical Patch Updates (CPU) are often composed of multiple patches which makes even more steps to have them installed on server:

  • Download
  • Copy on server
  • Installation via opatch

Since April 2021, Oracle is providing what they are calling a Stack Patch Bundle (SPB) which includes Stack Patch Bundle Automation Tool (SPBAT). This make the installation easier and safer.

You can use this to patch the following WebLogic installations:

  • Lite
  • Slim
  • Generic
  • Fusion Middleware Infrastructure (WebLogic part only).

Prepare

Download the patch for your OS and copy it on the server. Unzip it and go into the directory where spbat.sh script is located:

cd /home/oracle/CPU-2023-01/WLS_SPB_12.2.1.4.230112/tools/spbat/generic/SPBAT/

PreChecks

Prechecks can take few minutes, but it is worth using it as it can detect potential patching issues. 

./spbat.sh -phase precheck -oracle_home $ORACLE_HOME

ORACLE_HOME variable is pointing to the installation you want to update. In my case, it is a Fusion Middleware Infrastructure home.

Several steps make up the precheck:

  • requirements of script itself (jdk version):
[2023-01-26_14-47-37] [SUCCESS] The Installed JDK version 1.8.0_361 is higher than or same as the recommended JDK version 1.8.0_361
  • OPatch requirements:
[2023-01-26_14-47-21] Minimum OPatch version required : 13.9.4.2.5
[2023-01-26_14-47-21] Environment has OPatch version : 13.9.4.2.8
[2023-01-26_14-47-21] [SUCCESS] Minimum OPatch version check
...
[2023-01-26_14-47-41] Middleware OPatch Version : 13.9.4.2.8
[2023-01-26_14-47-41] SPB OPatch version : 13.9.4.2.11
  • List of installed patches:
[2023-01-26_14-48-28] List of patches present in the Oracle Home: /u00/app/oracle/product/fmw_reports
29494060;Database Patch Set Update : 12.1.0.2.190716 (29494060)
27516009;
27293599;
25549931;
22754279;One-off
19795066;One-off
19632480;One-off
19154304;One-off
19030178;One-off
  • List of applicable patches including compatibility and conflict checks:
[2023-01-26_14-48-28] Patch compatibility check with the environment is in progress…
[2023-01-26_14-50-26] CheckForNoOpPatches has Completed on /u00/app/oracle/product/fmw_reports Home
[2023-01-26_14-51-00] PATCH 34856450 APPLY WILL BE SKIPPED AS IT IS NOT APPLICABLE FOR THIS ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-02] PATCH 34883826 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-04] PATCH 34974766 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-04] PATCH 1221416 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-05] PATCH 33639718 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-08] PATCH 33093748 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-11] PATCH 34801809 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-14] PATCH 32720458 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-16] PATCH 34879707 IS #NOT APPLIED# IN THE ENVIRONMENT
[2023-01-26_14-51-16] Patch conflict check is in progress …
[2023-01-26_14-51-57] Patch conflict check has completed on /u00/app/oracle/product/fmw_reports Home

Expected output at the end is like this:

PRECHECK SUMMARY:
No Of FAILURES: 0
No Of WARNINGS: 0

With this output, we are ready to run spbat in apply mode.

Apply

Command is very similar with just the “phase” parameter being different:

./spbat.sh -phase apply -oracle_home $ORACLE_HOME

First step of script is to run precheck phase. When the completion of spbat precheck is error-free, it will proceed to installation:

[2023-01-26_15-10-06] Application of patches is in progress …
[2023-01-26_15-22-39] SUCCESSFUL - OPatch napply has completed for wls Home
[2023-01-26_15-22-39] Opatch Napply Exit Status - 0
[2023-01-26_15-22-39] COMPLETED : Performing SPBAT Binary patching on wls Home
[2023-01-26_15-22-57] STARTED : Performing SPBAT binary audit on wls Home
[2023-01-26_15-23-29] NoOp patch#34856450# detected in Environment.Skipping Audit for the same
[2023-01-26_15-23-29] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 34883826 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-30] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 34974766 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-31] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 1221416 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-32] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 33639718 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-33] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 33093748 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-34] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 34801809 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-35] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 32720458 IS #APPLIED#
[2023-01-26_15-23-35] SUCCESSFUL - SPB PATCH 34879707 IS #APPLIED#

And finally, spbat will list all installed patches:

[2023-01-26_15-24-02] List of patches present in the Oracle Home: /u00/app/oracle/product/fmw_reports

[2023-01-26_15-24-02] List of patches present in the Oracle Home: /u00/app/oracle/product/fmw_reports

34974766;WLS STACK PATCH BUNDLE 12.2.1.4.230112 (Patch 34974729)
34883826;WLS PATCH SET UPDATE 12.2.1.4.221210
34879707;FMW Thirdparty Bundle Patch 12.2.1.4.221209
34801809;RDA release 23.1-20230117 for OFM 12.2.1.4 SPB
33639718;33639718 - ADR FOR WEBLOGIC SERVER 12.2.1.4.0 JUL CPU 2022
33093748;One-off
32720458;JDBC 19.3.0.0 FOR CPUJAN2022 (WLS 12.2.1.4, WLS 14.1.1)
1221416;Coherence Cumulative Patch 12.2.1.4.16
29494060;Database Patch Set Update : 12.1.0.2.190716 (29494060)
27516009;
27293599;
25549931;
22754279;One-off
19795066;One-off
19632480;One-off
19154304;One-off
19030178;One-off

All these logs output, and even more, are kept under logs directory under SPBAT directory:

# ls -ltr ./WLS_SPB_12.2.1.4.230112/tools/spbat/generic/SPBAT/logs/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x. 5 oracle workshop 105 Jan 26 14:47 vm06_spb_precheck_2023-01-26_14-46-45
drwxr-xr-x. 7 oracle workshop 135 Jan 26 15:22 vm06_spb_apply_2023-01-26_14-57-45

This is great to have a complete history of what was before and after spbat was run.

Conclusion

Do not forget to backup before proceeding to any software update.

Even if apply will also run precheck, I do prefer to run precheck phase myself first, so that I am able to decide if I should proceed to patch apply or not.

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Olivier Spiesser